Daniel Ricciardo has yet to link up with his new Red Bull Racing team, but the young Australian is already plotting a Formula One title charge next season.
The Toro Rosso driver, who will join reigning four-time champion Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull in 2014, admits he has some big shoes to fill, replacing Mark Webber at a team which has completely dominated the last four years.
When asked whether he believed Vettel can be beaten, Ricciardo replied: “Yes, I do. My goal next season is to win the world title, that would be the best.”
He added: “The team (Red Bull Racing) has won the last four championships. I won’t be expected to get points, I’ll be expected to get top fives, and podiums. This is something I haven’t done yet but I’m sure I can prove my worth and show them why they picked me.”
Speaking at the unveiling of the Toro Rosso car bearing the slogan “Kulluna Khalifa” at the International Petroleum Investment Company headquarters in Abu Dhabi, Ricciardo insists he is relaxed about his move to Red Bull.
And while some may consider being Vettel’s team-mate a daunting prospect, the 24-year-old does not see it that way and has a plan to avoid feeling intimidated by the German ace.
He said: “I’ll be going about my business and focusing on what I’ve got to do and not really worrying about him. Obviously, I can learn from him with the data and things like this, but you know next year I would have got to Red Bull Racing through what I’ve been doing and there’s no reason to change that or to start doing anything differently.”
While Vettel has been making history with Red Bull in the last four seasons, it’s no secret his relationship with his current team-mate, Webber, has been a strained one.
Ricciardo though was diplomatic about the prospect of similar simmering tensions between himself and Vettel in the future: “If he’s beating me, I need to look into why and try and learn. I think they (Vettel and Webber) had some on-track incidents which started to spark the relationship and that’s a different situation.
“If me and Seb were to have a few crashes together we probably wouldn’t be very good friends either, that’s a natural thing.”
Although he may not have tips for Ricciardo on how to keep things civil with Vettel, Webber had some valuable advice for his fellow Aussie on how to handle this new chapter.
“Mark said just keep doing what I’m doing, I’ve got to this level because I’ve been smart, I’ve raced well,” revealed Ricciardo. “So he said not to change anything, just try not to lose focus, there’ll be much more attention and distractions so don’t get caught up in it too much and keep progressing the way I have.”
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